In preparation for a royal wedding, Friday has been declared a national holiday in Monaco. Saturday Prince Albert II of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock, a former Olympic swimmer, will wed before a star-studded list of guests at the Prince's Palace of Monaco.

The wedding – the first of a ruling prince since Albert's parents in 1956 – and its related festivities will last three days.

But along with lavish preparations, the couple is flatly denying rumors that Ms. Wittstock attempted to flee to South Africa, where she was born and raised, in order to ditch their wedding this weekend.

"The sole intention of these rumors is to seriously damage the image of the Sovereign, as a result of damaging that of Miss Wittstock, and bear down on this happy event," a statement from Albert's adviser read. "Then, they were hurt, but not for long because they know, especially the prince, that rumors are part of his life. But I think that among all of what he has heard, this one was more hurtful than others because it is damaging and the purpose of this rumor is to damage a happy event, his wedding."

Until a few years ago, Albert was under pressure to marry and have a legitimate heir, but in 2002 his father amended the constitution so that the crown could pass to a female heir and therefore to one of Albert's sisters (he has two). [Editor's note: This sentence was edited after posting to correctly reflect Prince Albert's number of siblings and the line of succession.]

The country, only about one square mile and populated by many extravagantly wealthy residents, has been swept up in the pre-wedding preparations, with national flags flying from public and private buildings, TV screens put up throughout, and recent parking tickets excused.

Stéphane Bern, France's best-known royalty journalist who is close to the prince, said he had expected a last-minute upset. "It was too perfect. I was certain such a stinking ball would taint the preparations," he said.

Alluding to the rumour, he added: "A woman can very well claim she is pregnant with his child. They are not going to do a DNA test to verify [her claims] three days before the wedding. Why don't they leave them in peace?"

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